I have my front almost to where I want it. My biggest hangup in achieving what I want in the back and for the first several years in the front was the lack of really good hardscaping materials. I love flagstone but it is expensive and time consuming to install properly. The front was done with a collected amount of various white flagstone accumulated literally piece by piece over about 8 tortuous years as various leftovers from clients and alleys and other neighbors redoing their own front yards and discarding it. I constructed paths and then with any thicker and more rectangular pieces a low retaining wall. And even though it has been properly leveled in with paver base it's still not as I would have wanted. In a perfect world, I would have ordered a couple pallets of good quality flagstone that all matches exactly in texture and color and thickness. But alas, such an endeavor would have run me at least a couple thousand that I don't have just for materials. And then there is the small circular back patio adjacent to the concrete one that I have envisioned laid out in flagstone for the backyard. For the time being it is currently a circular mulch patio edged in authentic cobblestones that I had collected.

And then there are the lovely dwarf specimen trees (especially evergreens) that I would love to acquire and strategically place throughout the back yard. But many of these run (even with my landscaper's discount) close to a hundred or more. So for now, I have to content with leftover perennials and annuals and the odd woody specimen from clients who don't want them and would end up in the compost pile otherwise.

Yeona - If watering is a problem, don't do containers, they are almost impossible in hot summer. I cut way back on containers years ago. Also mulch, mulch, mulch! It will save your plants and make them twice as healthy and need less than half the water. You'd be amazed what a 3 inch layer of organic mulch every year will do.

No, and that's because, (a) I don't really know what my gardening "dreams" are - I tend to look at everything as a work in progress, and, more importantly, (b) I don't live in my dream house.

I've done a good job with what I have to work with, but eventually we want to move to the house we intend on growing old in and with that a nice piece of property. So, we try to make our house nice for ourselves while we're here (moving isn't feasible for the time being) without spending a large chunk of money we don't think we'll recoup. For example, I had an estimate on some landscaping including some hardscaping (it isn't horrible, but not nearly as nice as I envision it being), and when we looked at the bottom line, we just don't see ourselves getting our money out of it if we move within the next 5 years or so.

I've done a good job with what I have to work with and very much enjoy tinkering with plantings, so for now I'm satisfied with doing that. :0)

yeah i did realize my dream ..

AND THEN IT TURNED INTO A FREAKIN NIGHTMARE!!!!!

what the heck was i thinking ??????

ken

My gardens are also a work in progress and probably always will be. There is never a bed that is "finished" as I am always moving, adding or deleting something. Hmm I guess maybe that is living the dream.

I've been gardening in this yard about 7 years, and it's about half way there. Unfortunately, I will probably leave this place before it's "finished" and looks like my dreams, but that's okay. The gardens would be more mature, if the yard hadn't been so neglected by the previous owner and heavily overgrown with invasive plants. It's taken 6 years so far to remove trees like big horrible Norway maples and invasive shrubs and vines, which has taken time away from gardening. I resent it but feel an obligation to remove as many of the invasives as possible before moving.

At the next yard, I want a more open lot, with a few strategic canopy trees and established plantings and a big open full sun area. Then I can start gardens from scratch, grow a large vegetable garden, and make a ginormous sunny butterfly garden. :)

In the meantime, there is beauty in every stage, and I've grown to appreciate the perennials and other plants that grow well in woodlands and partial sun. The birds and other critters love the habitat too.

good question....my answer is no. I've been here 2 years and the house is taking up most of the time and then on top of that the kids want a little attention now and then lol.

But I'm getting rid of more and more grass and the beds are well on their way to being overplanted. I've sorta got a plan in my head but only the font yard looks remotely close to what I have in mind.

Good job terrene in getting rid of those maples! I'm fighting knotweed and alianthus here.

not even close.

I've spent a lot of money and time on my sizable garden. I did a big round in 2002 and 2005, but lost both due to our severe drought summers.

Discouraged, I sort of let the survivors just grow and basically stopped gardening for a few years.

There are still a few vignettes that look great, but overall there are a lot of holes and many scraggly plants that are supposed to be anchoring.

I'm putting in an automatic watering system before I do anything else, although I am now in the process of completely re-planning my space.

There is a lot to learn about your conditions, tolerance for upkeep, local nursery costs, and design. Gardening is a lot harder than it looks.

Geedavey, consider a dry or xeric garden in your extra dry spots. The most drought-tolerant plants will only need watering once a month or so in a drought.

My xeric garden is along the southwest corner of the front yard - hot, dry, part sun, and competing with the roots of two big maples. Still experimenting with drought tolerant and shade tolerant plants there. Last summer was so dry, and I didn't water that bed much, I'm curious to see what comes back this year.

No way! My dream keeps changing!!! My own fault, I keep getting new ideas! Whenever I plant something I always say "don't get to comfortable cause I will probably end up moving you"!
I guess my dream is to be out there doing stuff, so I think maybe my dream is realized.

Nancy VB

I've been working on this garden for 17 years and am still expanding; taking out grass and making more shrub & perennial beds. Plus I agree with sunny_daze_gardener, my dreams keep changing. Some of the older plantings are beginning to disappoint me and I am planning to start major changes to them this spring.

I think my garden dreams will only be realized in 'my mind's eye'.

Yes. . .I have realized my garden dream. . .by moving out of a co-op in New York City and taking on a bungalow in New Jersey. By my definition, just
HAVING a garden is the dream. . .all that follows is pure pleasure. In my
16 years creating these gardens, there has been a TON of hard work,
occasional disappointments that turn into learning experiences, and endless
hours of happiness; every time I suspect I might be approaching a conclusion,
my creative juices start pumping and I come up with yet another addition or
variation. . .and I never grow tired of the process. . .that, is the "dream" part
for me. The moment I consider my garden finished - "realized", if you will -
I know I shall be bored out of my skull and ready to move someplace else so
that I can start living the dream all over again. . .

Yeah, I know, I'm, hopeless. . .I like to think most gardeners ARE ! :-)

Carl

No, my yard is too small.

What a great question!

My answer is no. We've only been in our home three years, and it was a completely blank slate (well, it was after we ripped out everything except two boxwoods, a crape myrtle and a Lady Banks rose. LOL). There were no beds, so I've created all those from scratch. Everything still looks really immature. Last year was a big bed-making and planting year. I hope that next year it looks a little better.

But, like a lot of you I bet, I'm constantly changing my ideal. I wanted a big grass bed, and since it was one of the first things I planted, I now have it! But now I think it's too big and looks out of balance with the bed next to it. So, I'm trying to decide if I'm adding more small grasses to the bed next door, or taking out some of the larger ones.